Lightning55

And it works both ways, up and down. I had a comic submitted recently that in my mind was an 8.5, would struggle to get a 9.0. Came back 9.6. Another I had figured at a high 9, came back 9.0, no explanation. Would love to know why. A third I figured 9.2, came back 9.8. The consistency is not there, in my opinion. I'm no expert, but I have been collecting and grading comics since the late 70's. When someone asks if they can get a 9.8 with some minor non-colorbreaking stress lines, I say sure, it's possible. Because I have had much, much worse come back 9.8.

I can see that, but it is always a balance of quality vs. quantity (or speed). Grocery baggers could go faster if they throw all your stuff in haphazardly, but your bread is crushed. We all appreciate it when the car mechanic takes a moment to explain why he had to replace the rotors and calipers in addition to just the pads (ouch). The newspaper gets delivered on time, but thrown in the bushes. We have to wait a long time to get our books back, and no way to vet the grade given. I guess it's a matter of what we will accept, before seeking out alternatives.

I think a comic as you describe, if no other grading considerations, should still have a decent chance to get a 9.8. I have had comics come back 9.8 that had visible stress lines, not color breaking, maybe 1-3 lines. The ones you describe seem less obtrusive than those commonly found on the front a comic, easily seen. Even if it comes back less than 9.8, you still can't positively attribute it to the stress lines, unless there are grader notes that state that explicitly. And I have never gotten a comic back over 9.4 that had grader notes. I am guessing, but it may be even lower than that. You get the comic back, 9.6, 9.8, dare I say 9.9, and have no specific idea why it isn't a 10.0. I don't mean it should be a 10.0, but why don't we know WHY it isn't? It's like they want to explain why it's a 6.5, but not tell you why it's not a 10.0. There must be SOMETHING wrong with it - they graded it 9.6. But what is it??? Doesn't seem like it would be hard to add notes. Maybe take another 60 seconds. Or they could have auto-text that if you hit F6 it adds "spine stress lines break color". There you go, 1.8 seconds to do it. Mystery solved. But no, the secrets are sealed forever in the slab and the grader takes them to his/her grave.

Spine stress lines, by definition, are indicators that the spine has been stressed. Meaning that the spine has been caused to bend in a way that is contra to its natural fold. It is like a ballistic mark. If it doesn't break color, that is better than one that does. If it is small, that is better than one that is large. If it draws your attention, that is worse than one that is discreet. I would think that you have to evaluate ALL spine stress lines that are presented. Some will be weighed more than others, and left up to the judgement of the grader. I don't think there is a set formula such as 3 front stress lines = 5 back stress lines = 8 tiny ticks along the fold. It's a sum of the defects situation.

Pressing is more art than science, and sometimes the results are unpredictable. I have seen some defects come out that you would never have thought would come out, and conversely some that seemed minor, remained. It can depend on who is pressing, what their standards are, what their procedures are, the condition and age of the comic, etc. There are quite a few variables. If I saw that come out of a press with the crease still there, I would have to re-evaluate the result. Sometimes you have to re-press it. If it doesn't go away on try #2, it probably is there to stay. Another problem is reversion. Maybe the light crease didn't show right away, looked gone. Then it can reappear. That is reversion. Some pressers will hold their work an extra day or two to check for that before releasing the order. You should contact your presser and discuss it. Maybe they can help you out, maybe not. If not, and you think another presser could do better, it would be wise to go down that road rather than submit it and get a grade that you not happy with, or one that devalues your comic's potential. It's another cost added, another waiting period, but that might seem small on the back end. And you have to look at the overall comic as far as how that defect will affect things. If you have a comic that is a 7.0, and the stubborn defect, if corrected, may not bring it higher than a 7.0 due to other faults, you might be wasting your efforts. When I first starting to get comics pressed, before I did it on my own, I sent out almost identical groups of comics to 5 different reputable pressers. I put in comics that had specific flaws, and I diagrammed each comic for the presser, showing what I thought the defects were. They were free to see things I missed, of course. I got generally good results, but you could tell that there were some differences in their work, some give and take. I was looking for attention to detail, turn around time, communications, and of course quality of work. The last presser I sent to, which was a week later than the other 4, was the first to come back. Some pressers got out small details, some didn't. Some came back with notes on the work completed, most didn't. Some took before and after photos. You have to find a presser you are comfortable with, and work with them. It won't always be perfect, but as long as you are happy with the work in general, that might be the best you can do.

That last sentence seems to be the "magic words". Just claim as self-employed. I presume, if you also have a regular job, nothing is stopping you from being self-employed in addition to that. Many people have 2 jobs. And that's just the Payroll Protection Program. There is another fund out there, and maybe more will sprout up.

You would probably need an actual CGC grader to answer that. For some things, like the color of the pages, max grades are set. Just as an example, according to CGC's Page Quality Scale, comics that have pages that are Light Tan to Off-white cannot exceed a grade of 8.5, no matter how nice the appearance. https://www.cgccomics.com/comic-grading/grading-scale/ I have no idea if other attributes have set limits or not. We all TRY to ignore defects that are not wear factors, but it gets harder to accept them at high grades. Certainly it's no collector's fault if an ink blotch exists, a comic is severely mis-wrapped, somewhat miscut, or it has an arrival date on it. But many buyers would have resistance in some cases. It's certainly an easy choice to make between 2 equally graded comics at the same price, one with an ignored defect and one with no defect. Most will pick the latter, I would think. If such a choice is so obvious, how can they be the same grade, same price?

People will be applying for aid for money lost on work they usually do, but couldn't, such as employees, contractors, professional services, retailers, etc. If you can show your life was adversely affected in a similar way through loss of payments you regularly receive, it's worth a shot to submit it. It has been pointed out that you still have the merchandise, but so does the retailer. People would like to get paid for work they didn't do because they couldn't, so you might as well get paid for merchandise you didn't sell because you couldn't. In either case, the ability to cover one's bills is severely impacted.

Looks like rogue ink from the printing process. I've seen it before, but not to that degree. It would most likely be considered a manufacturing defect. In lower grades, it can be ignored as such, but it does come into play in VF or higher grades. That is similar to how an arrival date is treated. Just my opinion, from limited experience in that area.

If you are operating as a business, and you have a Business Interruption Insurance clause in your policy, it might be possible to put in a claim. You would have to check your policy and consult with your agent. I had a comic store in a mall. A local contractor broke through a main service line, and the mall was down for the whole weekend. We lost $5,000 in sales. I put in a claim for Business Interruption and got paid a portion. There were deductibles, many variables, supporting data to show the profits lost on those potential sales, etc. Certainly SOMETHING happened to cause me to lose money I counted on as a regular course of business, which was not of my own doing. I still had to pay the rent, the utilities, buy products. I am not guaranteed to sell at a particular rate, but if you can show a track history of sales, and then that disruption by a certain, specific cause, you have a basis for a claim to funds that your policy provides. Despite the examples people are giving above about still having your inventory to sell, if you have PAID into the premium for that specific coverage, THAT'S what it's for. So it's time to collect if the unfortunate happens. That's the whole idea of insurance, spreading the risk among those who might be affected. Many paid in and received nothing. Of course, they could call this an act of God, and you're back at square one.

You will get credit. It takes the system some time to update, like a week. It's been an ongoing situation, confuses most people, understandably. If you are using a check, just deduct the $150 from your check total. If less than $150 in grading fees, don't send any payment - it'll get straightened out. Just a note maybe. In any situation, provide payment info and it will work out. There should be something right on the page where you sign up that this will occur, but it's one of life's impossibilities, I guess.

Very cool. This could keep me occupied for hours.

I nominate "Dark Age". Pollution will cut off the light from the Sun.

CGC will not authenticate a signature they don't personally witness. You can only get signature series at a convention or private signing. You bring the comic, a witness accompanies you to the artist, it's signed, and then immediately submitted.

I remember looking at comics that seemed "gradable" years ago, filing them away. Now I take them out and look them over and see minor defects right away that are certain to push them into the low 9's or below. That's ok for an expensive book, and BARELY ok at that, but for most modern comics it can be of questionable wisdom to invest more money in them. But if you do, at least they are preserved. I think I must have been wearing rose-colored glasses back in the day.

Excellent deduction, ADAMANTIUM. I would love to know what the graders saw to knock it down. Not to question their judgement, but just to know and understand. I suspect if you look long and hard enough at any specimen, there will be something. I used the verify tool, and it says there are no grader notes.

The only Venom I have is Lethal Protector, and maybe a couple of stray issues shortly after those. I had 2 Gold editions graded, 2 #1 Red Foil, and 2 Secret Wars 8.

Hello to everyone.....I'm Lightning55, brand new to CGC in general. Over the years, I would set aside comics now and then to get graded "when I got around to it", so of course they sat for a long time. Just made my first submission, Venom stuff. Happy with the grades, 4x 9.8 and a couple of 9.6's. Hope to learn a lot here about comics, and mostly how to participate on the boards. Never really got involved in posting, messaging, etc. on any boards or blogs, mostly lurking, if that term is still used. One of my early goals is to get some advice on what to do with a Spawn #1 that has no yellow ink at all on the front cover. Looks really odd. Not a result of fading, just never had any yellow applied. Maybe I can learn how to add pics soon - that would help. One step at a time, I guess. Glad to have the opportunity that this thread provides - a place to jump in and introduce myself.